Medication dispensing cabinets have been developed to store and controllably dispense a variety of medications. A medication dispensing cabinet may include a cabinet body with one or more drawers that are slideably disposed within the cabinet body. The drawers store the various medications. While some of the drawers may be unlatched and freely openable, other drawers may be locked in order to more closely control access to the medications stored in the locked drawers.
Some medication dispensing cabinets are automated and, as such, include or are otherwise associated with a computer that controls access to the compartments that store medications within the cabinet. The computer may be configured to allow access to only authorized users, such as pharmacists who stock the cabinet and medical providers who remove medications from the cabinet.
The amount of time it takes for the medical provider to interact with the computer and access the respective drawer can vary based on the type of medication dispensing cabinets and their computer control systems. While medication storage cabinets are important tools in loss prevention of narcotics as well as in providing the proper medication to each patient, any time spent interacting with the medication storage cabinets is time that the medical providers cannot be with their patients.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for dispensing medication that allows healthcare professionals to dispense medication for the patients under their care in a more rapid, efficient, and accurate manner.